In choosing a law firm to appeal a federal court ruling on recognizing same-sex marriages, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's office rejected two with long histories of advocacy for traditional marriage, including one that promised to assign nine lawyers to the case.

Dismissing the application of Liberty Counsel, of Lynchburg, Va., as well another submitted by the former general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the state said it would be better off with "representation unencumbered by an articulated ideological position on the legal issues to be decided."

"Their representations are grounded in a singular ideological viewpoint," the state's evaluation said of Liberty Counsel and Kyle Duncan, who recently left Becket to defend Louisiana's same-sex marriage ban for that state's attorney general.

The state evaluation cited its experience in state and federal appeal courts and said its proposal reflected "experience with equality protection issues involving gay rights."

Martin Cothran, an analyst for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, which opposes same-sex marriage, said the state should not have rejected firms with an outright ideological position dismissed: "It's the judge that's supposed to be impartial, not the attorney defending the law. … We would just like to see someone in this case who is actually in favor of the law."

Kerri Richardson, Beshear's spokeswoman, said the governor's office had no comment. She also declined to respond to a question about whether campaign contributions played a role in awarding the contract.

Liberty Counsel, which is affiliated with Liberty University, says on its website that it has defended marriage as the union of one man and one woman in more than 45 cases since 2004. It said in its proposal that it would assign nine lawyers to the Kentucky case.

Mathew Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, said he was pleased that Beshear had hired someone to defend Kentucky's ban on recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states, but that the selection should have been based on "expertise rather than ideology."

"It makes no sense to use that as a criterion," said Staver, a 1987 graduate of University of Kentucky law school.

Duncan declined to comment on the state's decision.

Laura Landenwich, one of the lawyers for the four gay and lesbian couples who won the ruling overturning Kentucky's ban, also said she had no comment.

Beshear announced he would hire outside lawyers after Attorney General Jack Conway said he wouldn't appeal the ruling because he could not defend a discriminatory law.

Seven firms submitted proposals but one was for paralegal services only and another was withdrawn.

Of the remaining five, the Ashland firm received the highest score from two state lawyers who evaluated the proposals — 96 out of 100 — based on "relevant experience" and "organizational capability." The evaluation cited its experience in state and federal appeal courts and said its proposal reflected "experience with equality protection issues involving gay rights."

Partner Thomas Miller of the latter firm said its mostly liberal, Democratic lawyers support gay marriage but he said he had an "intellectual interest" in the case, which he said poses a "fascinating constitutional question" and will end up at the Supreme Court.

Under the contract, partners may be paid $125 an hour, associates can make $90 an hour and paralegals may make $40 an hour.

Founded in the early 1920s, the Ashland law firm has a long list of corporate and public clients, including AK Steel, Oklahoma-based oil and gas company Chesapeake Appalachia, Kings Daughter Medical Center, the Boyd County Board of Education and the Ashland Board of Education.